Restless
by NeutralGuise
Summary: Optimus is used to being haunted by his mistakes. He's not used to taking that phrase literally, though.
1. Prologue

**Warnings:** Character death

 **Notes:** Just a little something for the season. The plan was to post the whole thing on Halloween, but, honestly, I don't think I can finish the entire fic by then and I want to get at least part of this out before November. New plan is to break the one-shot into 3-4 chapters and hopefully post it all by December.

 **Prologue**

Salvo the Insecticon sentry had actually been having a decent orn. The endless tedium of guard duty had finally been interrupted, by an Autobot no less. He had engaged the enemy in combat and emerged victorious, then left to find her smaller partner before he could accomplish whatever the two had come to Kaon to do. Then things went bad. Staring at the horde of scraplets at the end of the hallway, he began to curse his haste. They hadn't seemed to notice him yet, maybe he could still escape—no, no he could not. The tiny Autobot—and just what was that covering it was wearing, to be totally ignored by the scraplets teeming behind it?—had _grabbed a scraplet in its servo_ and _hurled it towards him_. Others in the swarm soon followed, and he could feel them gnawing at his plating. He could still try to run, but there was no way he would survive, not with this many already attached to him. There was only one thing left to do. He fixed his optics on the hateful little fragger that had actually dared to turn it's back on him, attempting to pry more scraplets away from whatever else they were chewing on.

If Salvo was going to die, there was no way he's let the one who orchestrated his demise outlive him. He rushed forward.

* * *

Optimus Prime sat alone in his quarters, feeling almost as lost as he had when Cybertron went dark. The death of Jack Darby weighed heavily on his conscience. Mrs. Darby had left the base before he returned, too furious and grief-stricken to face him. Fowler had had words for him, though. The agent had been terse in his anger. (" _Why give the key to Jack? Why not me? If I'd gone, then—"_ and one more, unvoiced accusation, _It's because you don't trust me, isn't it?_ )

 _Optimus! I'm not stopping until you listen to me._

At the time, giving Jack the key had been the obvious choice. He could have handed it to one of his soldiers, but Megatron would be watching their movements. The warlord wouldn't expect a human, though. Optimus had not even considered the boy's mother, he just didn't know her well enough to trust her with the key to Vector Sigma. Maybe he should have given Fowler the key, but the human was a government agent. What if he was ordered to hand it over? Better not to put him in such a position. The key had to go to one of the children; it had to go to Jack. It was not that he doubted that either of the other two children would do what had to be done, but Jack reminded him of Orion. In the end, that was what had prompted his decision.

 _I can literally keep this up forever._

The Autobots weren't taking Jack's death any better than the humans were. Bumblebee was clearly reluctant to take Rafael home, having already almost lost him to Megatron. Bulkhead had done his best to comfort Miko, who was blaming herself for Jack's death for some reason. (" _If I hadn't talked him into coming back..._ ") He, like the rest of them, was worried that the remaining two children would be separated from them. Arcee had disappeared into her own quarters as soon as she'd returned to base; she hadn't looked at Optimus since she'd restored his memories. ( _"Are you... certain I am worthy?" "..."_ ) Ratchet was as numb as Rafael had been, obsessively cleaning and reorganizing his tools to distract himself.

 _But I don't want to have to. Optimus, please..._

Optimus stiffened.

 _Wait, did that just work? Optimus?_

This was impossible. There was no way he was hearing Jack's voice.

 _If you can hear me, give me a sign!_

What if something went wrong when his memories were being restored? Optimus stood up and left to find Ratchet.

 _Where are you going?_

"Ratchet."

"Optimus, if this is about the Decepticon insignia—"

"I need you to scan me; I am experiencing auditory hallucinations."

 _You_ can _hear me! Hey! I'm real!_

The voice continued to protest Optimus's doubts while Ratchet ran his scans. "I can't find anything wrong, Optimus. Is it still happening?"

 _Yes, and it's going to keep happening until you_ talk to me.

"Yes."

 _Come on! Is this really any stranger than dark energon and zombiecons and the shadowzone, and Unicron?_

"Well, maybe there's a non-obvious injury from the Decepticons. Get on the berth, I'll give you a thorough examination."

 _Look, I'm real, and I can prove it._

Optimus finished lying down and gave in out of morbid curiosity, _How?_

 _Yes! You won't regret this! I'll tell you stuff you wouldn't know, like the names of everyone in my class, and what happened to Raf and me after the science fair, and—_

 _Something I can't just look up._

 _Okay, but you won't like what you'll have to do to confirm..._

 _What?_

 _You'll need to talk to my mom._

He needed to apologize anyway, _Fine, just tell me what I need to know._


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes:** Some dialogue is taken from the show. I'll mark the relevant line with an asterisk. Also, I will be taking liberties with certain minor (in the Prime show) characters.

* * *

"What do you want?" June hissed at the truck she found waiting in front of her house when she came outside to collect the paper.

The door swung open, "I need to talk with you. Please come in."

She stepped back, "No, just leave!"

"It's about Jack."

"Of course it's about Jack! I don't—" She whirled, preparing to leave.

"He... may not be entirely gone," the Prime admitted.

June froze, then turned around and climbed in, "What the hell do you mean?"

"I've been hearing his voice for over five hours now. He's been telling me things that he says only you and he would know. I've come to confirm that he's real."

"What?"

"What did you and Jack do on his eighth birthday?"

"What?"

"He says that the two of you went to a nature museum and later fed ducks, and that he fell into the pond trying to catch one."

Her voice broke, "What?"

"Is that true, Mrs. Darby?"

"Yes, it is." She rallied, "What... what did he do to get in trouble in fifth grade?"

"He wishes you hadn't brought that up. He says, 'I threw glitter all over some guy I didn't like and he ended up having to shave his head to get it all off.'"

"Oh god," she slumped into Prime's driver seat and felt tears leaking from her eyes.

"There are other—"

"No, no need," she put a hand over her eyes and sniffled. "I believe you."

"...He says that he's sorry he couldn't come back. _I'm_ sorry that—"

"Don't! Just... not right now..."

* * *

Things began to settle into a semblance of normalcy. The others had been shocked to learn of Jack's continued existence. Miko and Rafael had quizzed Jack through Optimus for almost an twenty minutes before they were satisfied. Arcee seemed torn between relief and jealousy. The femme now spent almost all of her free time around Optimus. Agent Fowler and June Darby were also around much more often then they had been before Jack's passing. Jack was still officially deceased, and Agent Fowler had decided not to inform any of his superiors. ( _"No one's going to believe this anyway, and they're already this close to sectioning me."_ ) Although the government would not be separating the remaining two children from their Autobot guardians, they wanted more oversight.

Jack and Optimus briefly explored their coexistence. It turned out that in addition to communicating verbally, Optimus also felt Jack's emotions when he was feeling strongly about something. The conversation with June had been particularly hard on them. Optimus's guilt had been compounded by Jack's sorrow and longing, then made even worse by the fact that Jack didn't blame him at all. Ratchet had insisted on running even more scans when he heard of this and still had not been able to find any physical reason for their circumstances. They also had to work out how to spend their time. Cold as it sounded, there was a war on and Optimus could not afford any distractions, especially when he was on the field. They agreed that Jack would do his best to be unobtrusive when Optimus was at work and the rest of the time they could talk. Jack's resolve to hold to that bargain lasted as long as it took Megatron to open his mouth.

"You really should have left your Decepticon shield intact, for you have no idea how useful your code-breaking skills proved to be during our all-too-brief time together.* I should also thank you for ridding me of that human, though I would have preferred to destroy him myself."

There was a flash of rage that Optimus was sure was not his own. _That bastard! He does not get to use my death as a weapon! Oops, uh, sorry, Optimus._

Once they were back at the base Jack spoke up again. _Hey, Optimus? About your memories from the_ Nemesis...

He did not want to hear more platitudes about it not being his fault. _What, Jack?_

 _Well, first, there's some stuff I probably should have told you sooner... Um, we're not alone here._

Mindful of the other Autobots in the room, Optimus carefully kept his face devoid of expression. Who else could there be? Cliffjumper? The Insecticon that had killed Jack? Why hadn't whoever it was spoken to him by now? _Who?_

 _They can't speak speak to you directly, and I didn't bring them up because there was always other things going on, and—_

 _Jack, who else is in my head?_

 _Uh, there's eleven of them. They're called Prima and Vector Prime and Alpha Trion and—_

 _The Thirteen?_ Well, eleven of them at least. Who was missing?

 _Minus the Fallen and.._. A sense of confusion, _Optimus Prime?... Yes. Anyway, about your memories, they're saying that they can help get them back._

 _How?_

 _I don't really get all the technical terms, but the way Micronus and Alpha Trion explained it to me is like this. When the Key restored the Matrix of Leadership, it scrambled your short-term memories. With time, you might be able to remember on your own, but by then it'll be too late to act on it. Even though you can't access your memories, we can. Well,_ he quickly amended, _they_ _can. I think that technically I can, but I have more of a presence than them for whatever reason, and they're worried that I'll poke the wrong thing and give you brain damage. So, yeah, they're going to look through your memories, tell me about what you decoded, and then I'll pass it on to you._

Optimus walked over to a console, deciding to sort through how he felt about all this later, when time wasn't so much of an issue. _When can you start?_

 _Right now._ What follow was a stream of surprisingly understandable Neocybex.

Though it was odd to hear a human voice speaking the Cybertronian language, Optimus quickly transcribed the information then noticed that he had drawn an audience. "There's been a development. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, go to these coordinates. Arcee, with me."

"You've remembered?" Ratchet sounded surprised.

"Something like that." Optimus internally winced at the medic's expression; he'd want to run more scans later, Optimus was sure of it.

Surprisingly, neither pair of Autobots encountered any resistance. Both teams were back in the base with their respective artifacts within the hour. During this time, an odd energy signal was detected. Since they were already at the only two locations that the Decepticons could possibly know about, they dismissed it as a trap. Later, when they cautiously explored the area they found no artifact, no energon, no signs of recent excavation, no trace that anything important had ever been there.

As he had predicted, Optimus was cornered by Ratchet as soon as he returned to the base. Resigning himself to the scans, he turned his attention towards Jack and the Eleven. _How long have they been here?_

 _You mean the Primes? ...Plus Liege Maximo,_ he added after a moment.

 _Yes._

 _Always? I've known that they were here ever since I "woke up" in your head. We talked a bit before you finally heard me, but it was hard enough getting you to believe in me, so I kind of left them out. Then there was the meeting with Mom and telling everyone else and Ratchet and his tests and Arcee and Raf and Miko and... the time just never seemed right to bring them up. They haven't pressed the issue either; they don't speak up very often. If I'd known that they could have helped like this I would have mentioned them sooner, believe me._

There was a pause before Jack continued. _Prima says that they aren't usually aware like this. They only speak to the bearer of the Matrix in extreme circumstances. Their best guess about why this is happening is that I am an extreme circumstance all by myself, and that me being here is keeping them awake. Alpha Trion is—wait a second._

Optimus waited while Ratchet continued to work around him and Jack's presence in his mind exuded irritation and anger.

 _Hey, Optimus,_ there came a sense of forced cheer, as if Jack would be speaking through clenched teeth if he were capable, _did you know that Alpha Trion is the one who sent all the Iacon artifacts to earth?_

It had been a relatively good day so far; Optimus allowed himself to hope. _He knows where the rest of them are?_

 _Yes, apparently he didn't bother mentioning this earlier because it was important to get to the ones the Decepticons knew about first, but we can just grab them all now._

Jack's good cheer was infectious, Optimus hadn't come this close to smiling in a long time.

* * *

Less than a week later, the Autobots had acquired almost all the artifacts. They were only missing one of the Omega keys and the Tox-En, which they had destroyed (to Jack's cries of _Isildur! Cast it into the fire!_ ). Optimus attempted to recreate the missing key with the Forge and descriptions passed along from the Primes. Unfortunately, he lacked the expertise necessary to produce the last key. Solus Prime despaired at what she called his complete lack of technique. During that week, when he wasn't retrieving artifacts with his team, Optimus spent his time talking to the Eleven through Jack. Optimus was glad to talk to his old mentor once again and was honestly a little starstruck at speaking to great historical figures like Prima and Solus Prime. Jack didn't mind being a go-between. He was genuinely interested in Cybertronian history, and most of the Primes were eager to be heard. He generally used the time that Optimus was working to silently ask his own questions.

According to Alpha Trion, the transport ship that his guard had been on should arrive on earth sometime within the next few months. They would have a chance to strike then, but until it came to earth, there was nothing more that the Autobots could do but wait. Without anything else to do, Ratchet returned to his Synth-En experiments and the remaining three Autobots spent their time with Miko and Rafael. The tedium was interrupted by the arrival of Wheeljack and Dreadwing.

After a tense showdown between Optimus, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Dreadwing, the seeker left to join the rest of the Decepticons and Wheeljack prepared to leave and explore earth. He was stopped by Optimus Prime before he could leave, though. "Wheeljack, I have an urgent mission for you."

"What is it, Prime?"

Optimus lead the Wrecker over to a console and pointed out an area on the map, "I need you find a Decepticon transport ship that I believe to be in this area. There is an Autobot prisoner aboard. We need to find him as quickly as possible."

"What's so special about this guy?"

"He was assigned to Iacon Hall of Records and Alpha Trion during—"

"A security guard?"

"Yes, he is unaware of it, but he holds the key to restoring Cybertron."

 _I see what you did there._

 _Not now, Jack._

"Really?" Wheeljack stared at Optimus for a few seconds, as if waiting for him to admit that it had been a joke, after a few seconds he turned to leave. "I guess I better get going, then."

* * *

Not long after Wheeljack disappeared back into space, MECH started acting up again. At some point between kidnapping June Darby and now, the organization had replicated a Cybertronian and were using is to cause discord between the Autobots and the government. Between Agent Fowler and Optimus, however, both Silas and his abomination were defeated.

Optimus was taken aback by the vicious satisfaction he felt from Jack when the bunker collapsed on Silas.

 _What? He almost got my mom killed._

Jack was furious when Agent Fowler reported that Silas's body was nowhere to be found. He remained a seething ball of anger until Optimus accompanied the Agent to a meeting with General Bryce.

Soon after the meeting, they picked up a Decepticon beacon. When they arrived, they discovered Arachnid and a large group of Insecticons. Jack remained silent, but Optimus could feel his fear and anger at the Decepticon femme. He seemed frustrated when Optimus declined to destroy Arachnid while she was still in stasis but since he never spoke up, Optimus decided not to mention it.

The next day the Autobots assaulted the damaged _Nemesis_. It... did not go well. All of them were put into stasis lock until Agent Fowler, with a small group of soldiers, sneaked aboard the _Nemesis_ and altered the fuel supply. While Optimus was frozen, he was not unaware. He was, however, unable to communicate, even in his own mind. This terrified Jack, whose panicked denials— _No, this cannot be happening. No, no_...—eventually tapered as he did everything he could (which, admittedly, wasn't much) to rectify the situation— _Okay, that didn't work. Okay, maybe, since Optimus is "out" right now, I can... no? Alright, then, what if_ —before there was a paralyzing sense of resigned acceptance— _I wonder what will happen to me if Optimus...?_ — that almost pained Optimus to experience. Once he and his Autobots were freed, Optimus disappeared into his quarters to spend time with Jack.

Soon enough, Wheeljack returned from his mission with Smokescreen in tow.

* * *

 **Notes** : That feeling when you meant for your fic to stop at the stations of canon, but somewhere along the way you blew up the rails. Next chapter, expect more Smokescreen, Cybertron, and Shockwave.


	3. Chapter 2

**Warnings:** Character Death

 **Notes:** Again, borrowed dialogue is marked.

* * *

Smokescreen could not stop grinning as he was led through the halls of the Autobot base. Everything was perfect! First, he'd been rescued from the Decepticon ship. Second, he's been rescued from the Decepticon ship by _Wheeljack_ , a _Wrecker_. He'd spent most of the trip to this planet going over his code, making sure that this was real and not some some daydream. Now, he was in the Autobot base with Bulkhead, _another_ wrecker; Ratchet, the best medic in the Autobot ranks; and Optimus Prime himself.

His smile slipped as he considered what had happened when he first arrived. Thanks to the phase shifter, he hadn't needed to undergo any procedures to have the key removed, but finding out that the mech he had considered a friend had attacked him and used him to smuggle the key off Cybertron had been unpleasant. He had been eager to do more in the war; he would have said yes if Alpha Trion had only asked. Why hadn't he asked? Had he thought Smokescreen would betray the Autobots and hand the key over to the Decepticons? Had he thought that Smokescreen just wasn't good enough to keep the key hidden? He wanted answers, but he couldn't bear asking Prime for answers.

And wasn't that a weird thought, that he could ask Alpha Trion questions through Optimus Prime now? The story sounded insane, and if it had come anyone other than the Prime, Smokescreen might not have believed them. The Thirteen Primes (minus one or two) communicating with the living through what was apparently the spirit of an alien sounded ridiculous. The Autobots had apparently used the information provided by the mech he had once guarded to locate him, though, so he guessed there was no arguing with that kind of evidence.

Smokescreen turned his attention back to the native showing him around.

"...and this is the immobilizer, and across the hall is the spark extractor, and over there is Arachnid. Annnd that's the tour, any questions?" Miko spun to face him.

"Yeah, actually," Smokecreen considered his words before plunging forward. "Could you tell me about Jack?"

Her face fell, "What about him?"

"Nothing, really, I just... Apparently, if it weren't for him, Optimus wouldn't have known about the keys or me or where to find me. I'd still be a prisoner of the Decepticons right now, and who knows if I'd ever get out? I just wanna know about him."

"Fine," she sighed and motioned for him to follow him back to the common area, "The first thing you need to know about Jack is that he was a ridiculous dancer..."

* * *

Optimus glanced up at the gathering. Miko and Smokescreen had returned to common area of the base some time ago, and when the others realized what the two were talking about they had all gravitated towards the discussion. Even Wheeljack, who had barely interacted with Jack, was on the fringes listening. Miko was telling the shadowzone story while Rafael split his attention between the story and his computer screen. Jack was torn between feeling moved and maligned. _(Heh, I'd almost forgotten about that... Hey! Things did_ not _happen that way! Optimus, tell them he's exaggerating!_ ) Suddenly, Rafael drew the attention of the group to his laptop. Within moments, they were moving in his direction.

" _Optimus, Raf found Red Energon,_ " Bumblebee had been the closest to him and thus arrived first.

Optimus spoke while Ratchet quietly explained Red Energon to the two children, "We must have Agent Fowler clear the dig site of all human presence in the event we are not the only ones who have discovered its location.*"

Smokescreen perked up at the chance to work with his heroes, "Optimus, I could—"

"Given the circumstances, I believe that it would be best if you did not participate in this venture."

"Sir, with all due—"

Optimus held up a hand, "Besides your lack of field experience, there is also the matter of your lack of an earth-based vehicle mode."

"Also," Ratchet cut in dryly, "there's the small issue of you being a Decepticon prisoner for centuries. I still haven't given you a proper physical. You aren't doing anything until I've cleared you for duty."

Smokescreen seemed taken aback, "Yes, sir."

"Send me and Jackie," Bulkhead grinned.

Optimus nodded, "Wait for word from Fowler." With that, he turned away to contact the agent.

* * *

The two Wreckers ended up encountering resistance in the form of Starscream. The seeker seemed the worse for wear and soon retreated rather than face off with the two Autobots. They returned triumphant, and once they got back, Wheeljack started refining the Red Energon.

June Darby showed up that night while Smokescreen was being checked by Ratchet. "I heard from Bill that you have all the keys to the Omega Lock, now."

 _She's calling him "Bill" now?_

"Yes."

 _Well, I guess I don't mind._

"So you all are going to be going back to Cybertron soon?"

 _I mean, it's not like I want her to be alone._

"Yes."

 _He better be good to her though._

She nodded, visibly steeling herself before continuing, "Will you be coming back?"

 _Optimus, I need your help giving Fowler the shovel talk! Wait, what's going on?_

"Once our planet is restored, the battle will most likely move back there. Even once the war is over, there will be much rebuilding to be done." Seeing June wilting from disappointment, he added, "I would not be able to return very often."

 _Optimus... thank you._

"Thank you," She unknowingly echoed her son.

 _Hey, I don't know how good interstellar communication is, but could we still call or at least write?_

"It's the least I can do," he spoke aloud while mentally replying. _Writing would be doable._

 _Thanks._

"When will you be leaving?"

 _Solus says that a secure communication device would not be outside the capabilities of the Forge, in case that's an issue._

"Tomorrow evening." That should give everyone time to say goodbye, him time to modify the groundbridge, and Ratchet time to work in case Smokescreen needed any procedures done.

 _So soon?_

"I'll be back tomorrow then."

"Until then." _The longer we wait, the more time the Decepticons have to discover this._

* * *

Unfortunately, the next day Silas resurfaced. The Autobots did not learn of this until after he had stolen the Project Damocles satellite. June, who had taken the day off, had been very unimpressed by the title. "What, was Project: Death From Above already taken?"

 _It_ is _an obvious name._

 _Is it?_ Optimus asked Jack while Fowler protested that Silas had named it.

 _If you're even vaguely familiar with the story behind it, yes. Look it up later if you have time. The phrase "sword of Damocles", which refers to a sword hanging over someone's head by a single hair, is used to convey impending doom, basically. It's kind of on the nose for a satellite that fires death lasers from the sky._

"The 'Cons may have the satellite, but they can't use it without the interface code. The only existing copy is stored on the secured servers at headquarters in Colorado.*"

"Then we will go there to protect that code," Optimus announced.

When they arrived at the military base Soundwave was already there, though he soon ran when Optimus came at him with the Star Sabre. Moments later, it was the Autobots retreating in the face of the Damocles satellite.

"We need to take the satellite down," Optimus said as he emerged from the space bridge.

"Already on it, Optimus," called Rafael from his stacks of homework and notes. His parents had almost prevented him from coming today due to his slipping grades, but given that his friend had recently died, they were a bit more sympathetic then they might otherwise be. It took some time, but between Raf and Ratchet, they eventually managed to cause the satellite to reenter the atmosphere where gravity and friction would destroy it.

* * *

Despite the unexpected interruption by Silas and the Decepticons, evening found the Autobots and their allies assembling around the space bridge. Miko and Rafael were disheartened to be seeing what may be the last of their guardians. Both of them were pressing the Autobots to stay in contact. Agent Fowler had already said his "goodbyes" and "it's been an honor to work with yous" and stood back watching the proceedings. June approached Arcee, and they spoke quietly for a few moments. Optimus didn't try to listen, even though Jack was both curious and concerned about the conversation. After Mrs. Darby finished speaking to Arcee, she came over to stand by Optimus.

"Goodbye, stay alive, and don't forget to write."

"Of course, Mrs. Darby," Optimus nodded.

 _Tell her goodbye. Tell her we'll see her again, and I won't let you forget._

"Jack says goodbye, and that he won't forget." _I can't make that kind of promise._

June seemed to hear what hadn't been said because she pursed her lips and had a determined look in her eye, "I'll see you later, then."

 _Bye, mom._

Well, it seemed like everyone was done now. Optimus raised his voice, "Autobots, let's move out."

Everyone but Ratchet (because if Cliffjumper's death had taught them anything, it was that they should always leave someone to man the bridge, just in case) moved towards the space bridge. They were armed with all the relics they could carry. Arcee was a hulking figure in the Apex Armor. Smokescreen looked like he hoped that they would get into a situation where his phase shifter would get some use. Bulkhead had the immobilizer in one hand and the polarity gauntlet in the other. Wheeljack had declined any of the weapons, preferring his swords and explosives, but accepted the force field generator. Bumblebee had the resonance blaster mounted on one arm. Optimus lead the way with the Star Sabre on his back and the spark extractor under one arm. All of them were carrying a dose of Red Energon, just in case. None of them were expecting a Decepticon attack, but they'd come too far to get blindsided at the last minute.

They emerged from the bridge at the coordinates Alpha Trion had given Optimus. At first it seemed that they had been misinformed, but as they approached, four pillars rose from the ground and the Omega Lock revealed itself. Optimus moved forward and started inserting the keys. The Lock began to glow as it powered up. He set it to restore the planet and took several steps back to stand amongst his Autobots. For a few minutes there was a reverent silence as they all watched first the area around the Lock regenerate then as the effect traveled further outward.

"Wish I'd brought the _Jackhammer_ ," Wheeljack muttered, "I bet the view is amazing up high."

Bumblebee nodded in agreement and looked around, _"There's a building over there. It looks like it's already been cyberformed; we could watch from up there."_

While the others started towards the building, Jack spoke up.

 _Hey Optimus, tell Arcee that this is even more incredible than the first time, okay? And that I'm glad that I got to see her planet like—Whoa! Watch out!_

Optimus probably should have expected something like this to happen. Things had been going very well for the Autobots lately; they were overdue for a stroke of bad fortune. So of course they would be attacked by a creature straight out of human myth and Cybertronian history. When Jack shouted a warning and he saw movement in his peripheral vision, he was already moving and calling out to the others. The beast slammed into the ground where he had been moments before and surged forward, jaws open. Optimus moved to the side, but before he could bring the Star Sabre down on its neck, Bumblebee hit it with the resonance blaster. The creature was stunned, and before it could recover, Bulkhead lashed out with the immobilizer.

 _What was that? Was that a dragon? You have dragons on Cybertron? Why did no one warn me about the dragons?_

 _That's not a dragon, it's—_

 _Yeah, getting a history lesson from Alpha and Onyx now._

Optimus turned his attention back to the Predacon, "It would seem that Cybertron was not as abandoned as we had thought."

Smokescreen had approached and was cautiously examining its frozen form, "I know that I'm pretty new and don't know all the players, but I can only think of one person who could create something like this."

"Shockwave," Arcee hissed, "I guess his death was too much to hope for."

"We need to guard the Omega Lock until the restoration is complete. Ratchet, open a space bridge; Bulkhead, take the Predacon to earth and come back."

"Optimus—"

"Bulkhead, Shockwave has had centuries to create new weapons, and counter old ones. We do not want the Predacon back in the fight."

"Yes, sir." Bulkhead seized the beast's body and hurried towards the now open bridge.

Optimus and the others returned to the Omega Lock and established a loose perimeter. All of them were on the lookout for Shockwave or another one of his experiments.

"You know, if he's not coming himself, he may be off calling for backup," Arcee murmured.

Wheeljack glanced over, "If he could contact the others, then he'd be with them right now."

"Maybe not," Bulkhead returned, going to stand between Wheeljack and Smokescreen, "That creep's in it for science, not because he believes in the cause. The Decepticons let him do all the stuff we'd never let him get away with so he works for them, but if he had a choice between doing whatever he wants for as long as he wants, and working on what Megatron tells him to on Megatron's schedule, do you really think he'd go to Megatron?"

"Huh, point, nothing we can do but wait, anyway."

As the Omega Lock was finishing its work, the sky above them darkened. About half his Autobots were tensed, ready to fight, while the other half joined him in recognizing the _Iron Will_.

"Autobots, stand down."

"Optimus, do you know who this is?" Arcee motioned to the ship.

"Yes."

 _Who is it?_

 _Ultra Magnus, my second in command and leader of the Wreckers._

The ship landed a short distance away and soon Ultra Magnus had joined the group.

"Sir, I am glad to see you in good health."

"Commander, it has been too long," Optimus briefly rested his hand on his second's shoulder in greeting.

"Sir, I came here after my ship detected an energy surge on Cybertron. Sir, the planet is," he looked around and seemed to lose his words. "What's going on?"

Optimus gave him a very brief overview of the situation, ending with the Predacon attack, "...we believe that Shockwave or another one of his experiments may be about, would you return to your ship and search for Decepticon activity?"

"Yes, sir."

A short time later, the commander returned, "Sir, I believe that I have located Shockwave's laboratory."

"Good," Optimus considered his forces, "Arcee, Bumblebee, and Smokescreen, guard the Omega Lock until it finishes; when it is done, return the keys to earth and come after us." Smokescreen and Arcee seemed upset, but nodded along with the scout. "Bulkhead, Wheeljack, with us." He turned towards the _Iron Will_ , the two Wreckers trailing behind.

When they reached the lab, they found Shockwave ready for them. The scientist had trapped the areas surrounding the entrances and fired on them from the safety of his base. Too bad that the Autobots had no intention of storming the place. Wheeljack used the force field generator to provide cover, Optimus destroyed the door and front wall from a distance using the Star Sabre, and Bulkhead used the polarity gauntlet to pull Shockwave out of hiding once his Prime had created a large enough hole. Shockwave's optic widened as he was dragged towards them. He was killed by his own traps before he reached the Autobots.

"Oops, hope you didn't want him alive, boss-bot."

"We don't have time to interrogate him properly, and this is better than risking Megatron rescuing him. Let's proceed with caution, who knows what Shockwave kept here."

Wheeljack gripped the force field generator and went in first, followed by Bulkhead, Optimus and Ultra Magnus.

"What are we looking for, anyway?" Wheeljack called back.

"Right now? More Predacons, we'll have Ratchet go over this place in more detail later."

"Well, I see what might be the equipment he used to make the one we saw, but no signs that he made more than one."

Ultra Magnus walked over to a console, "I'll see if I can find his notes." He frowned, "It seems that he's been alone so long that he's stopped bothering with security, sloppy. There is, indeed, only one Predacon."

"Good, let's leave this for now and return to the Lock. We need to send out the news that Cybertron has been restored, and prepare for the arrival of the Decepticons."

* * *

Given that the Decepticons had access to a space bridge of their own, the Autobots didn't have time to do much more than cyberform the area surrounding the Omega Lock to provide them cover. Optimus worked with the Lock for as long as he dared before he sent the Bumblebee to rush the keys back to Ratchet. Smokescreen had disappeared with the spark extractor. Bulkhead, assisted by Wheeljack, was gathering scrap to use as projectiles with the polarity gauntlet. Ultra Magnus lent Arcee an energy whip to use with the Apex Armor, and taken the _Iron Will_ off in case they needed surprise aerial support. Jack was a tense, silent presence.

The Nemesis arrived.

* * *

 **Notes:** Only one more chapter to go. It'll probably (hopefully) be shorter than this one, but I'll also include a few extra scenes that I really want to write but don't fit into the timeline.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes:** Went back and changed the last chapter, specifically the last section.

* * *

Knockout watched the planet below him through a screen in the control room. In a large-scale battle like this, he and Soundwave were expected to stay on the _Nemesis_ with a skeleton crew. Knockout was supposed to be preparing the medbay in case any of the officers needed medical care, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Cybertron. He's almost forgotten how beautiful it once was, almost given up on seeing it restored. How could he have given up on his home? How had the Autobots fixed it?

He frowned, snippets of the message the Decepticons had picked up on earth replaying in his head. ( _...Cybertron is habitable once more...We Autobots have restored our planet...You can come home now..._ ) It had been sent out on all Cybertronian frequencies. If anyone was still out there, they would want to return to see if it was true for themselves like the Decepticons had. If any of those people were unaligned, they might fall in with the ones who had fixed the destruction caused by their war. That was another reason why the Decepticon army had rushed back, to destroy the Autobots before they could bolster their ranks.

Despite the addition of Dreadwing and the Insecticons, things had not been going well for the Decepticons lately. To be more accurate, they hadn't been going well ever since they lost Orion Pax. First they'd lost the spark extractor to Bumblebee, and from then on they hadn't even _seen_ any of the artifacts. Until they turned up in Autobot hands, that is, he noted, frowning at the flashes of blue light that meant Optimus Prime was using the Star Sabre to cut down large swathes of the cannon fodder. When Knockout and Breakdown had gone out to find the other artifacts whose coordinates Optimus had so helpfully provided they had found nothing but the signs of recent excavation. Even when they started to decode the rest of the list, whenever they went out to retrieve them, they would find nothing but rubble. Then he'd lost Breakdown to Arachnid, and been forced to team up with the Insecticons when he went out. The only upside to finding out that the Autobots had beaten them to every relic was that those missions were blessedly short. When Breakdown's signal had come up again, he'd been ecstatic, that joy had quickly turned to disgust, when he saw the abomination that had been created from his friend's husk. The human's plans had failed, though, and it was given to Knockout to experiment on in the name of science. And revenge. And fun. He glanced back at the body twitching in the corner of the medbay, then turned his mind back towards the battle.

They had not had an auspicious start. They had lost a large portion of the Vehicons and Insecticons to the spark extractor at the beginning of their assault before Megatron had destroyed it with his fusion cannon. There was already a new addition to the Autobots' ranks. The unfamiliar mech who had deployed the spark extractor was using the phase shifter to move uninjured through the battle, pulling anyone he could reach into walls or the ground. Bulkhead had been wreaking havoc with the polarity gauntlet, but was now teaming up with Wheeljack to take down Dreadwing. The seeker was having a hard time dodging scrap propelled by the gauntlet and blasts from the immobilizer when his escape routes were being cut off by the force field generator. A heavily armored figure was cutting through their forces with an energy whip. It was probably Arcee, since he could see flashes of yellow on the other side of the battlefield.

Optimus Prime, of course, had engaged Megatron, and things were not going well for the warlord. They had known about the Star Sabre since he'd used it to chase off Soundwave earlier, but they hadn't been able to find a way to counter it. Megatron was forced to dodge and move back instead of fighting in close quarters like he preferred.

* * *

Arcee was a juggernaut. This wasn't how she preferred to fight, with no weapons but an energy whip and her fists and her agility severely limited, but Primus was it therapeutic. She seized a Vehicon who had wandered too close and used the brute strength the Apex Armor gave her to tear the Decepticon in two and threw both pieces into the fray. She kept moving, following the bulk of the Insecticon forces. The one who killed her partner had been devoured by scraplets long ago, but that didn't mean she didn't have a lot of rage and grief to get out of her system.

Bumblebee was feeling invincible. The scout stayed at the edges of the fighting and used the resonance blaster to cause chaos in the Decepticon ranks, incapacitating as many 'Cons as he could with each blast, leaving them easy targets for whoever happened to be nearest. Sometimes they'd get too close, and he'd have to take them out with his own blasters. He may not have gotten the force field or the phase shifter or the Apex Armor, but he was untouchable all the same.

Bulkhead was excited for this rematch. The last time he'd seen Dreadwing, the seeker had knocked him out and strapped a bomb to him. Not this time though, this time he was the one who'd prepared the battlefield. He grinned wildly when Dreadwing failed to avoid his latest salvo of scrap and fired the immobilizer again. He almost missed again, but Wheeljack managed to shove their opponent into its path with his force field. Bulkhead turned towards his teammate and raised a fist, "Wreck and rule!"

Wheeljack was enjoying himself. Once Dreadwing went down, he and Bulkhead split up to cover more ground. He clipped the force field generator to his side next to his grenades and drew his swords. This may be the last chance he'd have to have fun for a while, he thought sourly, now that Ultra Magnus was back. He came upon a group of dazed Decepticons and dispatched them quickly. He kept moving through the battlefield, relishing the rush of the fight.

Smokescreen was having the time of his life. Finally he was in the thick of battle, instead of guarding the Archives or sitting around the base, and he was good at this! It took him a few tries, but he had the timing down perfectly now. Speaking of... he phased into solidity just long enough to grab a Vehicon, became intangible again, tugged the Vehicon through one of its companions, shifted back and forth, and moved away while the fused Decepticons twitched and sparked behind him. The troops were starting to thin, and most of the survivors were aware of his tricks. He'd just have to get even more creative now.

Ultra Magnus was through waiting. The _Nemesis_ had ceased opening ground bridges for their ground troops to come out of; no more seekers were launching from the decks. Now was the time to strike. It was a shame that they were all fighting again, after Optimus and his team had just fixed the planet up. He noted that the landscape had already been scarred by weapons fire. It couldn't be helped, though, hopefully they could still use the Omega Lock after this was over. He brought the _Iron Will_ down and began to fire on the Decepticon warship.

Optimus was unused to conflicts between himself and Megatron going like this. Usually they were evenly matched, Megatron's experience in the pits letting him hold his own against all the memories and experience of Optimus Prime. Now, though, with Prima's weapon in his hands, things were much more lopsided. Though he had already managed to maneuver himself between Optimus and the battlefield, keeping the Prime from using the Star Sabre's energy waves for fear of hitting his own troops, Megatron was growling in frustration and firing his fusion canon, trying to push Optimus back and keep him at range, instead of smirking and closing in as he was want to do. Against his better judgment, hope that he could end both the war and the mech he'd once called friend began to well up in him. Pressing forward, he swiped at Megatron's neck. His opponent managed to avoid the initial attack, but couldn't dodge the follow up slash that took his arm. That was enough for Soundwave to decide to step in, apparently, as a bridge opened up directly below the warlord and closed behind him before Optimus could follow. No! This war could _not_ go on. Things _would_ end here. Optimus found the Nemesis in the sky, and commed Ultra Magnus. As soon as the _Iron Will_ was clear, he used the Star Sabre to send an energy wave at the ship followed by another and another. He targeted the ship's engines and the command room, then warned his Autobots about the imminent crash.

When the Nemesis collided with the ground, Optimus wasted no time shredding the side of it with energy attacks. He rushed closer and tore what remained of the siding away then ran to find Megatron and Soundwave. Out of the corner of his optic, he saw Smokescreen rush right through the wall. He commed his soldier and instructed him to look out for the Decepticon leaders and to call him when they were found. It didn't matter though; Soundwave found him first. Though the Communications Officer was almost as skilled as his leader in close quarters combat, his competence was no match for the raw power of the Star Sabre. Optimus sliced him in half lengthwise and continued on to the throne room. He froze at what he found there.

When he'd been sending out energy waves wildly, trying to bring the ship down, he'd struck truer than he's realized. Megatron lay in two pieces in the command center. Optimus stared numbly until Smokescreen called to say that he had captured Knockout, then he turned and walked away. Maybe now the rest of the Decepticons would stop.

* * *

It had been almost two months since the last battle of the war. Unfortunately, life could not resume as though the war had never happened. As more and more Cybertronians returned to their planet, it got harder and harder to keep things organized. At first, everyone had lived in Iacon, but eventually, there were too many people to make that feasible. Now, Optimus had to find specialists who knew how to keep a city's infrastructure running, find jobs to occupy a bunch of bored soldiers, and find places for each new arrival all in addition to keeping the peace between his soldiers and returning Decepticons who didn't want to fight anymore and between the unaffiliated who were scorned by those who had chosen a side.

His team was doing all that they could to help him, of course. Ultra Magnus was perfect at organizing groups and finding the right mechs to get any given job done. Most of the others either acted as enforcers or helped with rebuilding. Wheeljack was sent out on missions, occasionally with one of the others as backup to find missing Autobots or to give Decepticon prisoners the option of coming home.

Most of the Decepticons were happy to lay down their weapons and help rebuild instead. Dreadwing, however, had refused. The Autobots had been prepared to shoot him down, but the seeker elected to go live on his own rather than try to coexist. Knockout, on the other hand, switched sides without hesitation. When they finally tracked down Starscream, the silver jet refused to believe that Megatron was dead and attacked them. Arcee took the opportunity to avenge Cliffjumper. The Predacon was an entirely different matter. For days, he hadn't spoken to any of them and just when Optimus was beginning to doubt that he was even sapient, Predaking transformed and named himself. He had lots of questions about what and where and who he was. Optimus gave him all the answers he could, aided in placed by Onyx Prime, Prima, and Alpha Trion. Predaking elected to live among the other Cybertronians, though he would often disappear from the cities for days at a time.

 _Hey, Optimus, if you're done with that missive from Altihex, can we get to mom's letter?_

Optimus stayed in communication with Ratchet and Mrs. Darby on earth. The medic had become attached to the remaining two children and planned to stick around until they passed on. June was understanding of his workload, but every letter hinted that she'd like to see him again.

 _Alright,_ he sent back. _I could use a break._

Maybe once things had settled and he had the time to retrieve the Allspark, he could finally return to earth for a vacation.

* * *

 **Notes:** I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, and lurked! Knowing that people out there have been reading this has been a huge inspiration. I had a lot of fun writing this, even if it kind of got away from me. This was originally supposed to be a riff on the old "Jack goes to Cybertron in Orion Pax 2, gets bitten by radioactive scraplet, comes back changed, and turns the tide of the war" storyline. I thought that I could keep kind of close to canon if all Jack could do was communicate with Optimus and the past Primes, then I looked up the thirteen and found Alpha Trion's name. The rest you know. Now, on to the deleted scenes!

* * *

 **Extra 1:** **If Megatron went grave robbing like in canon**

Jack was surprised when Megatron showed up with a dark purple sword, but was soon distracted from it by shouts of indignation from the Matrix.

 _That's mine! How dare that scavenger with delusions of grandeur touch what does not belong to him!_

 _What?_ He thought back to Liege Maximo, knowing that Optimus wouldn't hear him conversing with the Primes unless he wanted him to. _Is that your weapon?_ Each Prime had apparently been in possession of some stupidly powerful artifact at some point or another.

 _No, that arm, he has my arm!_

 _Wait, what?_ On closer inspection, one of Megatron's arms did indeed not match the rest of him.

 _I told you all that we should have destroyed his body._ Quintus Prime murmured.

 _No, despite all that he did, Maximo was one of us, and we should not desecrate his husk._ Prima pronounced.

Amalgamous cut in. _That's slag! You only disagreed because Quintus thought of that idea. I bet if Trion or Vector came up with it, you'd have approved. Just because you're biased against the youngest of us—_

 _Can we please not bring this up again?_ Prima's mistakes had been a popular topic of conversation at one point.

 _Did he make that abomination with my forge?_ Solus growled.

 _Never mind that, I'm going to make him regret ever even looking at my arm! Now, Jack, pass this on to Optimus, during the fight with Unicron, I took a blow that I never quite recovered from, he has to aim exactly..._

* * *

 **Extra 2: Where _is_ Megatronus?**

 _So the Fallen was originally called Megatronus?_ Jack asked Micronus. _Wait, was he reincarnated too? Is that what's going on?_

 _Yes, but not in the way you're thinking._

 _What do you mean? Megatron literally had the same name before he shortened it._

 _This is true, but I think that it is more likely that he took that name when he decided to oppose Sentinel Zeta Prime, rather than him coming out of the Well of All Sparks with it. Also, if history were repeating itself it would be Prima and Megatronus clashing, not Optimus and Megatron._

 _Then who is he? Do you know?_

 _...Yes._

 _Are you going to tell me?_

 _You mean you haven't figured it out yet?_ Nexus cut in.

 _How could I? Wait, is he someone I know, is he an_ Autobot?

 _No..._

 _Jack, have you ever wondered why you're here?_ Nexus asked.

 _Constantly, but what does that have to do wi—no. No! That's not true. That's impossible._

 _Search your feelings; you know it to be true!_

 _Noooooooooo!_

* * *

 **Extra 3: The original end**

Optimus hesitated for only the briefest of moments before he took the Allspark into the Matrix of Leadership. Abruptly he was hit with a blast of fear, regret, and resignation.

 _Optimus..._

 _I'm sorry, Jack._

Optimus took off with the now empty case.

Once Unicron was defeated and Megatron had left the planet. Optimus explained what he had done to the rest of his team while the weight of Jack's emotions weighed down on him. Arcee looked stricken.

"Wait, Optimus, if you die, then what about—" She glanced at Knockout.

Jack spoke up for the first time since Optimus had effectively committed suicide, _Tell her it's fine, tell her that I'm fine with it. I mean, I shouldn't even be here in the first place, right?_

Optimus had never tried to mentally hug someone before. He wasn't sure if he succeeded, but Jack sent back a feeling of comfort, so he supposed that he'd done well enough, "He understands, but... tell June I'm sorry."

Optimus finished saying his goodbyes and turned to fly into the Well. As he approached, Jack's trepidation grew. _Optimus... I'm scared. What'll happen to us? What'll happen to me?_

The Prime did his best to mentally latch on to Jack's presence and felt Jack clinging back. _I'm not sure what will happen now that the Matrix will be in the Well, but whatever happens happens to the both of us._


End file.
